Helical conveyor freezer

ABSTRACT

A food freezer for continuous freezing of food products utilizing a helical conveyor for transporting the food products through an enclosure in which the food products are cooled. Mechanical refrigeration apparatus employs a refrigerant to cool an atmosphere gas which is circulated across the food products within the enclosure. The refrigerant is also employed to subcool a cryogen which also cools the same food products.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 07/791,893, filed Nov. 13,1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,135, issued Apr. 27, 1993.

This invention relates generally to food freezing apparatus and, moreparticularly, to a continuous food freezer having a helical conveyor onwhich food products are conveyed through an insulated enclosure, whilethe food products are subjected to a cooling medium during the period inthe insulated enclosure

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It has been common practice in recent years to use helical or spiralconveyors in connection with continuous food freezers. The helical orspiral configuration provides a substantial length of conveyor withinwhich the freezing of the food may be accomplished in a more restrictedspace than would be possible with a straight, in-line type of conveyorfreezer. These helical conveyor freezers typically included an insulatedchamber or enclosure with an entrance opening located in the sidewalltoward the bottom of the enclosure. The exit opening is located in awall opposite the entrance opening but toward the top of the enclosure.The helical conveyor is centrally located in the enclosure, having avertical axis on which a cylindrical drum is positioned to drive theconveyor. The superimposed flights or tiers of the conveyor transfer thefood products from an entrance section, which extends from the entranceopening to the bottom flight, where the food products move upwardly onsuccessive flights and discharge on an exit section that extends fromthe uppermost flight out through the exit opening.

While the mechanical means for supporting the conveyor varies to someextent, it basically consists of an open frame positioned around thehelical conveyor with support members extending inwardly to mounthelically disposed rails which support a flexible, open mesh belt. Theinner edge of the belt rests against the rotating driven drum whichcauses the various flights of the conveyor to rotate and progressupwardly on the supporting rails.

In the prior art of helical conveyor food freezers, there are differentmeans used to freeze the food products. In the earlier helical conveyorfood freezers, the freezing means was typically a mechanicalrefrigeration system having evaporator coils within the insulatedenclosure to cool air circulated therein across the food products. Thereare also examples in the prior art of helical conveyor food freezerswhich utilize cryogenic cooling in the form of sprayed liquid nitrogenor liquid CO₂. The cryogenic freezers use various combinations of liquidcryogen, condensed vapor as snow or cryogen vapor to cool or freeze thefood products.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,476 to Asfrom is directed to a helical conveyor foodfreezer having mechanical refrigeration and arrangements of cylindricalbaffles coaxial with the conveyor to direct the cooling medium throughthe flights of the conveyor in a direction opposite to the movement ofthe foods products. U.S. Pat. No. 3,315,492 to Dreksler discloses ahelical conveyor freezer having mechanical refrigeration and fan meansfor directing the air flow downwardly into the core of the conveyor andoutwardly across the food products on the various flights of theconveyor.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,381 to Onodarow discloses a helical conveyor foodfreezer having mechanical refrigeration and fan means located in thecore or center of the helical conveyor arranged to circulate cooling airhorizontally and diametrically with respect to the conveyor, withgenerally cylindrical baffle means enclosing the conveyor to maintainthe cooling medium therein. U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,950 to Kaufmann, Jr. issimilar to the Onodarow patent in showing a continuous helical conveyorfood freezer having mechanical refrigeration and generally horizontalair flow across the helical conveyor. U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,093 to Voitkoalso discloses a continuous helical conveyor freezer having mechanicalrefrigeration and air flow which is directed generally downwardlythrough the flights of the vertical conveyor.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,780 to Briley et al. similarly shows a continuoushelical conveyor having cooling air flow across and through the helicalconveyor as the air moves generally downwardly. Cylindrical baffles andconical baffles are used to direct the air flow in the Briley et al.patent. Briley et al. also teaches reversal of the air flow, using upflow, with the products moving either upwardly or downwardly on ahelical conveyor. U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,062 to Lipinski et al. shows acontinuous helical conveyor freezer having mechanical refrigerationmeans and including baffle means to direct air flow downwardly throughthe core of the conveyor and upwardly through the flights of theconveyor.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,343 to Jeppsson discloses a continuous helicalconveyor freezer having mechanical refrigeration and disclosing manydifferent embodiments insofar as air flow is concerned. In theembodiment of FIG. 2, the air flow is generally downwardly in the coreof the conveyor and radially outwardly through the various flights ofthe conveyor, the air dividing, passing upwardly and downwardly throughthe conveyor and back to the air circulation means. FIGS. 14, 15 and 16show alternative air flow patterns in which the cooling media passesupwardly through the entire length of the helical conveyor or enters theside and moves horizontally around the periphery of the conveyor orenters from the outside and moves upwardly and downwardly from thecenter part of the conveyor, as shown in FIG. 16.

There are various prior art patent disclosures of cryogenically cooledhelical conveyor food freezers of less relevance to the presentinvention; these patents are noted as including the patents toChamberlain et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,394; Harrison U.S. Pat. No.3,866,432; Styley Jr. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,623; and Loades etal., U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,330.

In the fast freezing of food products, there is a problem of fooddehydration during the freezing process. The heat exchange mediumengaging the product is often air which has little moisture, andtherefore tends to pick up moisture from the food. Accordingly, it isimportant to contact the food products with a sufficient amount of thecooling medium to drop the temperature of the food quickly and form acrust on the outer surface of the food products to prevent the furtherloss of moisture. Moisture loss is undesirable from two standpoints.First, it reduces the weight of the product, which, since the product issold by the pound, reduces its value. In addition, the dehydration ofthe food generally results in a deterioration in the quality of theproduct. For these reasons, it is desirable to minimize the time periodin which the food products are cooled to the point of forming an outercrust which then greatly reduces the further loss of moisture.

The most rapid cooling is known to be accomplished by cryogenic coolingusing liquid CO₂ or nitrogen, to obtain the greatest difference intemperature between the food products and the cooling medium. Cryogeniccooling is also preferred since it has much less dehydrating effect thandoes the dry air resulting from mechanically refrigerated systems.However, the deterrent to the universal application of cryogenic coolingto all food-freezer applications is the fact that it, in most instances,is considerably more expensive than the use of mechanical refrigeration.In an effort to obtain a balance between operating cost and performance,there have been continuous food freezers which employ a combination ofmechanical refrigeration and cryogenic cooling. One such freezer isdisclosed in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 704,806, filed May 23,1991, and assigned to the same Assignee as the present application.

There are means of improving the efficiency of continuous food freezersutilizing mechanical refrigeration or combinations of mechanicalrefrigerations and cryogenic cooling. In order to quickly cool incomingfood products, it is important that a continuous type food freezer bearranged to deliver the cooling medium to the incoming food products atits lowest temperature. In addition, to operate the mechanicalrefrigeration means at the most efficient level, it is desirable toextract as much heat as possible from the cooling media before it isrecirculated back to the heat exchange coils of the mechanicalrefrigeration apparatus. It would be desirable to provide air flowwithin a continuous helical conveyor food freezer, to satisfy both ofthe above-described objectives.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a helical or spiral conveyor foodfreezer which is adapted to freeze food products on a continuous basis.The conveyor is received within an insulated enclosure along withrefrigeration apparatus for cooling an atmosphere gas within theenclosure. The enclosure is divided into a first cooling zone and asecond cooling zone through which the helical conveyor transports thefood products. The refrigeration apparatus is disposed to supply thecoldest atmosphere gas to the first cooling zone to cool the foodproducts sufficiently to produce a crust or frozen exterior surface.

The first cooling zone is separated from the second cooling zone bybaffle means which directs the atmosphere gas, which has been warmed bypassing over the food products in the first cooling zone, to the secondcooling zone. In the second cooling zone, the atmosphere gas is passedthrough the conveyor in the vertical direction and in a directionopposite to the movement of the food products. Thus, the atmosphere gasin the second cooling zone engages the coolest food products first, andthen passes across progressively warmer or less cooled products. Thisflow pattern for the atmosphere gas produces an efficient heat transferto the food products and extracts as much cooling as possible from theatmosphere gas before it is recirculated back to the refrigerationapparatus. The quick cooling in the first cooling zone reduces to aminimum the moisture loss in the food products for a given temperatureof atmosphere gas from the refrigeration apparatus.

The refrigeration apparatus used in the practice of the presentinvention may take several different forms. There are many types of foodproducts which are suited to freezing using mechanical refrigeration asa consequence of lower cost of cooling with mechanical refrigeration ascompared with cryogenic cooling, which is more expensive. It isdesirable to use a combination of cryogenic and mechanical refrigerationin freezing more expensive food products where the loss in value of theproduct due to moisture loss can exceed the added cost of cryogeniccooling. In the situations where cryogenic cooling can be justified on aproduct cost standpoint, the refrigeration apparatus would includecryogenic spray apparatus in the first cooling zone. The spray apparatusdirects liquid CO₂ or liquid nitrogen across the food products on theconveyor in the first cooling zone.

The circulation means for the atmosphere gas in the enclosure forces theCO₂ vapor resulting from the spray, as well as the gas cooled by themechanical refrigeration, from the first cooling zone into the secondcooling zone. The CO₂ spray accelerates the rate of freezing the surfaceof the food products in the first cooling zone and augments the coolingproduced by the atmosphere in the second cooling zone.

Baffling means which accomplishes the circulation of the atmosphere gasdescribed above includes a generally horizontally extending partitionthat divides the portion of the enclosure outside of the helicalconveyor into a low pressure area above the partition, and a highpressure area below the partition with the mechanical refrigerationapparatus and its gas circulation means forcing the atmosphere gas fromthe low pressure area to the high pressure area. The atmosphere gaspassing from the first cooling zone to the second cooling zone movesupwardly within the central core or cage of the conveyor with acylindrical imperforate wall provided to keep the atmosphere gas frommoving radially outwardly until it reaches the uppermost flight of thehelical conveyor, at which time it moves outwardly and then downwardlythrough the second cooling zone. A second cylindrical baffle surroundsthe helical conveyor and extends from the top wall of the enclosuredownwardly with its lower end spaced above the horizontal partitionleaving an annular gap through which atmosphere gas may exit the secondcooling zone and pass to the input of the mechanical refrigerationapparatus. Suitable control means are provided to vary the proportion ofcooling by the mechanical refrigeration apparatus, as compared to thecooling by the cryogenic means.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved foodfreezer having mechanical refrigeration with atmosphere circulationmeans forcing atmosphere gas successively through several cooling zones.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved foodfreezer having a helical conveyor with refrigeration apparatus andatmosphere gas circulation means to cool food products quickly with lowtemperature gas in a first cooling zone adjacent the freezer entranceand to cool or freeze food products in a second cooling zone in whichthe atmosphere gas circulates counter to the direction of productmovement to better equilibrate the product.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedfood freezer having a helical conveyor transferring food productsupwardly in an insulated enclosure and refrigeration apparatuscirculating a cooling atmosphere gas across the lower initial flights ofthe conveyor and then downwardly through the upper flights of theconveyor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved foodfreezer utilizing mechanical refrigeration and liquid cryogen cooling incombination with a helical conveyor arranged in a first cooling zone forrapid cooling of incoming products, and a second cooling zone for lessrapid cooling using atmosphere gas circulation in a direction oppositeto the direction in which the food products move.

These and other objects of the invention should be apparent from thefollowing detailed description for carrying out the invention when readin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the helical conveyor food freezerembodying the invention, portions of the insulated housing and bafflingbeing cut away for illustrative purposes;

FIG. 2 is a schematic showing of a helical conveyor food freezerembodying the invention and illustrating the path of circulation of theatmosphere gas;

FIG. 3 is a schematic showing of another embodiment of a helicalconveyor food freezer embodying the invention and illustrating the pathof circulation of the atmosphere gas;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the freezer of FIG. 1 with portions cutaway for illustrative purposes;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 5--5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary vertical sectional view showing oneof the cryogenic spray headers;

FIG. 7 is a schematic horizontal sectional view of a baffle usablebetween the various temperature zones;

FIG. 8 is a schematic elevational view with portions cut away of thebaffle of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line9--9 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a helical conveyor ofan alternative embodiment; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an alternative refrigeration systemusable in connection with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 of the drawings is a food freezer 11which is a continuous type freezer being adapted to receive foodproducts at an input opening and to freeze the products while conveyingthem through the freezer to an exit opening. The food products processedthrough such a freezer would typically be at room temperature or, in thecase of some precooked foods, at a considerably elevated temperature ofbetween 150° F. and 200° F. As discussed earlier, the rate at which suchfood products are frozen has a substantial effect on the quality of thefrozen processed product. It is generally recognized that moisture losswill vary considerably between freezers cooling with conventionalmechanical refrigeration apparatus and freezers cooling with liquidcryogen such as CO₂ or nitrogen. The expected moisture loss in anentirely cryogenic freezer is on the order of one percent with themoisture loss in a typical mechanical refrigeration freezer being on theorder of 3% to 7%. While the operating costs of cryogenic systems arehigh compared to mechanical refrigeration systems, when the cost perpound of the product is over one dollar, the 2% to 6% weight savingthrough cryogenic cooling begins to justify its use, at least incombination with mechanical refrigeration.

The freezer apparatus 11 includes a thermally insulated enclosure 13within which there is a mounted helical or spiral conveyor 15. The useof such helical conveyors in food freezers is known and preferred sinceit permits one to fit a relatively long conveyor into a compact space.This results in a small enclosure to house the conveyor 15. The conveyor15 is of generally conventional construction having an elongated belt15a which is of an open mesh construction and fabricated of stainlesssteel.

The conveyor belt 15a is wrapped around an idler roller at the entranceend outside of the entrance opening 17 and around a driven tensioningroller at the exit opening 19 and is provided with a take-up mechanism15b which is of conventional design. For the purpose of supporting anddriving the spiral conveyor 15, there is provided a central core or cage15c which rotates about a vertical axle 15d and which is in engagementwith the inner edge of the belt 15a. The cage 15c is rotated by a drivemechanism 21, which includes a motor 21a connected to the lower end ofthe axle 15d by a roller chain 21b and sprocket 21c.

The spiral conveyor 15 includes a plurality of loops or flights 15f,each consisting of one helical loop about the core or cage 15c. As shownin FIG. 4, the belt 15a has a straight entrance portion 15g whichextends from outside of the enclosure 13 through the entrance opening 17to the lowermost flight of the helically disposed portion of the spiralconveyor 15. Similarly, there is an exit portion 15h which extends fromthe uppermost flight 15f to a position beyond the exit opening 19. Themanner in which the various flights or loops of the belt 15a of thespiral conveyor 15 are supported and driven by the cage 15c is shown anddescribed in prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,356,707 to Tyree, Jr. et al.,4,878,362 to Tyree, Jr., and 4,953,365 to Lang et al., the disclosuresof which are incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,362to Tyree, Jr. discloses an expanding spiral conveyor belt which issuitable for use as the belt 15a, having an open construction throughwhich cooling air may readily circulate.

For the purpose of controlling and directing the flow of cooling airthrough the enclosure 13, the cage 15c is formed with an imperforate,cylindrical wall 15j, which extends from above the uppermost flight ofthe conveyor 15 to a point below the midpoint of the conveyor 15. As isbest shown in FIG. 5, the imperforate cylindrical wall 15j is coaxialwith the cage 15c. The peripheral wall of the cage 15c below thecylindrical wall 15j is opened to provide for the free circulation ofcooling air across the lower flights of the conveyor 15 into the volumewithin the cage 15c.

At the bottom of the cage 15c, there is provided a bottom wall 15k,which is slightly conical in shape having its apex at the axle 15d andits lower peripheral edge secured to the lower peripheral edge of thecage 15c. The conical wall 15k is imperforate, thus leaving an annularopening or perforate area between the outer edge of the conical wall 15kand the cylindrical wall 15j through which air may pass into the volumedefined by the cage 15c.

At the upper end of the cage 15c, there is provided a fan 23, having animpeller 23a, a drive motor 23b, and a drive shaft 23c connecting themotor and the impeller. Surrounding the fan 23 is an imperforate wall 25which forms a shroud for the fan 23 to restrict any air passing axiallythrough the cage 15c to pass through the opening within which theimpeller 23a rotates.

Before considering the details of the refrigeration apparatus forcooling the atmosphere gas within the enclosure 13, consideration willbe given to the atmosphere gas flow path through the food productscarried by the spiral or helical conveyor 15. In this connection,attention is directed to FIGS. 2 and 3, which illustrate schematicallythe cooling atmosphere gas flow in, first, a purely mechanicallyrefrigerated freezer and, second, in a freezer which is cooled by acombination of mechanical refrigeration and cryogenic cooling.

The air flow pattern to be described in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3has the advantage of providing the coldest atmosphere gas to the warmestproducts entering the freezer to achieve surface freezing as quickly aspossible. Also, it achieves high efficiency by passing all of thecooling atmosphere gas across the food products with no shortcuts orparallel return paths. This results in the maximum extraction of heatfrom the products by the cooling gas. The difference between theembodiments shown schematically in FIG. 2 and in FIG. 3 relates to themethod of cooling the circulating atmosphere gas. In FIG. 2, the systemis cooled entirely by mechanical refrigeration. Use of the term"mechanical refrigeration" herein is intended to cover apparatus inwhich a cooling medium, or refrigerant, goes through a cycle so that itis recovered and reused. Generally, a vapor compression cycle isemployed wherein the liquid refrigerant is evaporated in a low pressureregion, i.e., an evaporator, to produce cooling and is subsequentlywithdrawn to a compressor where the pressure and temperature of thegaseous refrigerant are raised. The gaseous refrigerant is thentransferred to a condenser where its heat is discharged to theenvironment and the refrigerant liquifies and is stored in a receiveruntil such time that it is to be recycled through an expansion valveback into the evaporator.

Use of the term "cryogenically cooled" or "cryogenic refrigeration"herein is intended to cover methods or apparatus in which a liquifiedgas, usually carbon dioxide or nitrogen, is allowed to expand andevaporate, producing temperatures of -110° F. or below. Usually theliquified gas or cryogen is expended by discharge to the atmosphereafter the desired use has been made of its capacity to absorb heat incarrying out a cooling or freezing operation.

In the embodiment illustrated schematically in FIG. 2, there is provideda mechanical refrigeration unit or apparatus 27 which includes aircirculation means 27a and evaporator coils 27b positioned within theenclosure 13. The compressor and condenser for such a mechanicalrefrigeration apparatus would typically be mounted outside of theenclosure 13. The atmosphere gas to be cooled by the mechanicalrefrigeration apparatus 27 is drawn in by the fan 27a through an opening27c and, after passing over the evaporator coils or heat exchange coils27b, is discharged downwardly through an opening 27d.

As shown by the arrows 29, the discharging cooled atmosphere gas isdirected through the lowermost flights of the conveyor 15 inwardlytoward the volume enclosed by the cage 15c. The conical wall 15krestricts upward movement of the cooled atmosphere gas, forcing it tocirculate around the bottom of the enclosure 13 where it may enter thecage 15c through the annular opening adjacent the lowermost flights onlyby passing across the food products supported on the conveyor.

The pattern of flow as described causes the coolest atmosphere gasprovided by the mechanical refrigeration apparatus 27 to be directedacross the incoming products on the conveyor 15. The coldest atmospheregas, therefore, is the most effective in rapidly freezing the exteriorsurface of the food products to thereby minimize the moisture loss ordehydration in the food products. After the atmosphere gas passes acrossthe lowermost flights of the conveyor 15, it passes upwardly within thecage 15c, as shown by the arrows 31. In the specification and theclaims, the products on the lower flights of the conveyor which aresubjected to the initial flow of atmosphere gas passing radiallyinwardly will be referred to as within "a first cooling zone", whereasthe remainder of the flights of the conveyor 15 will be referred to aswithin "a second cooling zone", the function of which will be describedin more detail below. It is noted that the first cooling zone and thesecond cooling zone are separated by a horizontal wall 33 which extendsfrom the sidewalls of the enclosure 13 to the cylindrical wall 15jwithin the cage 15c. The portion of the horizontal wall 33 outside ofthe conveyor 15 is interrupted by the mechanical refrigeration unit 27which extends through the wall 33 in order to draw in atmosphere gasfrom the area above the wall 33 and discharge it below the wall 33. Thehorizontal wall 33 includes an annular, somewhat spiral, portion 33awhich is interleaved between the flights of the conveyor 15 to divide orseparate the first cooling zone from the second cooling zone.

At the top of the conveyor 15, the fan 23 draws the atmosphere gasupwardly and circulates it outwardly, as shown by the arrows 35, in thearea beneath a top wall 13a of the enclosure 13. In order to redirectdownwardly the outwardly moving atmosphere gas as indicated by thearrows 35, there is provided a cylindrical baffle 37 which extends fromthe top wall 13a downwardly to a level spaced above the horizontal wall33 so as to leave an annular discharge opening 39 located slightly belowthe midpoint of the conveyor 15. Thus, the atmosphere gas enters the topflights of the conveyor 15 moving vertically downwardly between thecylindrical walls 15j and 37 as shown by the arrows 40.

When the downwardly directed atmosphere gas, as indicated by the arrows40, reaches the horizontal wall 33, including the annular portion 33a,the atmosphere gas moves outwardly, as shown by the arrows 41. As theatmosphere gas leaves the area of the conveyor 15 through the annularopening 39, it moves around and upwardly, as indicated by the arrows 43,to the intake 27c of the mechanical refrigeration apparatus 27.

To appreciate the effectiveness of the path of the atmosphere gas, asillustrated in FIG. 2, it is necessary to consider the relativetemperatures of the food products on the conveyor 15 and the atmospheregas circulated from the first cooling zone to the second cooling zoneand back to the mechanical refrigeration apparatus 27. The atmospheregas is at its coldest as it moves radially through the products on theconveyor flights in the first cooling zone, thereby creating a crust onthe exterior of the food products to eliminate further dehydration. Thispassage of the cooling atmosphere gas through the first cooling zoneraises its temperature somewhat. As the atmosphere gas moves downwardlythrough the flights of the conveyor 15, it is at its coldest temperatureat the top of the enclosure 13, when it engages the food productsimmediately before they exit the freezer 11, at which time they arecompletely frozen. As the atmosphere gas reaches its highest temperaturebefore circulating back to the refrigeration apparatus, it encountersthe warmest of the products within the second cooling zone. This patternof having the atmosphere gas moved in the opposite direction from thedirection in which the food products are transported by the conveyorresults in maintaining a fairly constant temperature differentialbetween the products and the cooling atmosphere, achieving effectiveheat transfer with the maximum amount of cooling extracted from thecirculating atmosphere gas.

The schematic diagram of the air flow in FIG. 3 is essentially the sameas the air flow pattern shown and described in connection with FIG. 2.Accordingly, the same reference numerals have been employed to indicatethe parts in FIG. 3 which correspond to those in FIG. 2, including thereference numeral designations for the arrows showing the path of thecirculating atmosphere gas.

The basic difference involves the addition of cryogenic coolingapparatus 45 adjacent the first cooling zone. As shown in FIG. 6, thecryogenic refrigeration apparatus 45 takes the form of a series ofheaders 45a, supporting spray nozzles 45b, which are level with anddirected horizontally across the food products on the lowermost flightsof the conveyor 15 within the first cooling zone. In order to bestutilize the space within the first cooling, zone for the cryogeniccooling if desired, there may be as many as eight or more peripherallyspaced headers with nozzles directed radially across the food productson the conveyor 15. The headers may be individually controlled so thatthe amount and proportion of the cryogenic refrigeration may beselectively varied depending on the types of food being processed andthe rate of processing.

When the freezer 11 is used in the combination mode, the mechanicalrefrigeration apparatus 27 functions to cool the circulating atmospheregas and the cryogenic refrigeration 45 combines to increase the rate offreezing in the food products within the first and second cooling zones.The use of the cryogenic spray from the nozzles 45b reduces the timerequired to create the external crust on the food products whichsubstantially eliminates further dehydration. A cryogenic liquid or snowproduced from the spray nozzles 45b lowers the temperature of the foodproducts and, as the cryogen is circulated inwardly and upwardly asindicated by the arrows 31, provides a lower atmosphere gas temperaturethan that provided by the mechanical refrigeration apparatus 27operating alone. This lower atmosphere gas temperature results in fastercooling of the food products within the second cooling zone, therebypermitting a more rapid rate of processing than would be permitted bythe use of the mechanical refrigeration 27 operating alone.

FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 illustrate a preferred embodiment which utilizes theair circulation pattern shown schematically in FIGS. 2 and 3. Themechanical refrigeration apparatus 27, shown generally and schematicallyin FIGS. 2 and 3, takes the form of two units 27 and 27' which areidentical, having atmospheric gas circulating means 27a, heat exchangecoils 27b, gas intake openings 27c, and gas discharge openings 27d. Theevaporator coils and gas circulation means may take the form of thesplit coil system disclosed and claimed in the commonly-assignedcopending application Ser. No. 705,119, filed May 24, 1991. Theevaporator coils disclosed and claimed therein include liquid spraymeans which permit cleaning and sanitizing of the evaporator coils inposition in the freezer 11.

As is evident from FIG. 4 of the drawings, each of the mechanicalrefrigeration units 27 and 27' includes multiple fans 27a associatedwith intake openings 27c. Gas discharge openings 27d open laterallytoward the conveyor 15 to allow the cooled atmosphere gas to pass in andaround the lowermost flights of the conveyor 15 within the first coolingzone.

In order to assure good distribution of the cooling air from theopenings 27d to the entire circumference of the conveyor 15 within thefirst cooling zone, it may be necessary to employ perforate cylindricalbaffles or wall segments 36 surrounding the conveyor 15 below thehorizontal wall 33. In the food freezer 11, the velocity of atmospheregas circulated through the mechanical refrigeration units 27 and 27' maybe on the order of 2000 feet/minute. A gas velocity of this size wouldhave a tendency to blow the food products off of the conveyor 15.Accordingly, wall segments 36 are positioned in front of the openings27d and adjacent the periphery to provide a velocity drop by creating aback pressure. The two cylindrical wall segments 36 extend about 110°around the axis of the conveyor 15, with the periphery at the sides awayfrom the openings 27d being unobstructed by the walls 36. The resultingatmosphere gas velocity across the flights 15f of the conveyor withinthe first cooling zone would be on the order of 400 to 800 feet/minuteas a consequence of the wall segments 36. The wall segments 36 extendfrom the horizontal wall 33 to the bottom wall of the enclosure 13, withopenings being provided for the cryogen nozzles 45b to direct cryogenthrough the wall segments 36 onto the food products on the conveyor 15.In some installations, it may be desirable to extend the cylindricalwall segments 36 to form a full perforate cylindrical wall extendingcompletely around the conveyor 15 to lessen the atmosphere gas velocityflowing inwardly in the first cooling zone.

The manner in which the wall portion 33a is disposed between the firstcooling zone and second cooling zone is best shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9.In the plan view of FIG. 7, the wall portion 33a is shown as having anannular shape. It is in a spiral form with the uppermost end positionedat the center, lower area in FIG. 7, with the lower end overlappingabout 60° around the axis of the cage of the conveyor 15. As showntherein, the flights 15f of the conveyor 15 are supported on a frame 49which includes vertical frame members 49a, horizontal frame members 49band spiraling rails 49c, which support the belt 15a. The annular portion33a of the horizontal wall 33 is secured to the underside of thesupporting rails 49c, as is best shown in FIG. 9. The annular wall 33aextends around one complete flight 15f of the conveyor 15, in order toprovide overlapping ends which define an opening 51, as shown in FIG. 8,whereby the conveyor belt 15a may extend through the opening 51 to passfrom the first cooling zone to the second cooling zone. The opening 51is closed by a curtain 53 formed by flexible fingers which permit thefood products on the conveyor 15 to move through the opening 51 withoutany appreciable leakage of the atmosphere gas therethrough. As shown inFIG. 7, a second curtain 53 may be hung from the wall portion 33a inalignment with the lower end of the wall portion 33a to provide a betterseal between the first and second cooling zones. The annular wallportion 33a is generally on the same level as the horizontal wall 33,there being an additional cylindrical wall 33b that extends around thewall portion 33a, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The horizontal wall 33 issecured to the wall 33b.

As indicated above, the cryogen cooling apparatus 45 includes headers45a and nozzles or dispensing valves 45b. As shown in FIG. 4, there areeight separate headers provided around the periphery of the conveyor 15.Each of the headers 45a is supplied by a feedline 45c, one of which isshown in FIG. 6. While the details of the structure and the layout ofthe feedlines 45c are not shown, it is contemplated that the feedlines45c would be constructed in accordance with the teaching of theabove-cited Lang et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,365 to eliminate thepossibility of feedline blockages by frozen cryogen. As is evident fromFIG. 6, each header 45a supports a plurality of nozzles 45b which aredirected horizontally across the food products on the surface of theconveyor flights 15f. The specific arrangement and number of headers andnozzles are not critical to the practice of the invention and may bevaried to meet the requirements of a particular installation to provideadequate cryogen to accomplish the preliminary cooling and surfacefreezing of the food products involved in the first cooling zone. Theserequirements would depend on the nature of the food products, the massof the products, incoming temperature, conveyor speed, and the selectionbased on cost considerations as to the proportion of cryogen cooling tomechanical refrigeration cooling to be used in a particular run of foodproducts. By having a separate control 55, associated with each of thecryogen feedlines 45c, the amounts of cryogen supplied may be easilyvaried.

In the operation of the freezer 11 of FIGS. 4 through 6, the food to befrozen is placed on the outer end of the entrance portion 15g of theconveyor 15 where it is carried into the enclosure 13 through theentrance opening 17 into the first cooling zone as it moves onto thelowermost loop 15f of the helical conveyor 15. At the entrance opening17, there is provided a dilution chamber 57 which includes ablower-controlled exhaust duct 57a. The dilution chamber 57 is a knownmeans for controlling the entrance of outside air into enclosure 13 andregulating the outflow of cryogen vapor from the enclosure 13 throughthe opening 17. By automatically controlling the flow of atmosphere gasexhausted through the duct 57a and the flow of cryogen into theenclosure 13, the ingress of air and egress of atmosphere gas throughthe opening 17 may be controlled. A similar dilution control chamber 59and blower-controlled exhaust duct 59a is provided at the exit opening19 to control the ingress of air and egress of atmosphere gas.

The entrance and exit opening seals of the type described above aredisclosed in detail in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,654, whichis incorporated by reference as fully set forth herein. There are, ofcourse, other types of seals which would be suitable for use in thisapplication.

As the food products progress upwardly on the helical conveyor 15,through the first cooling zone, the food products are subjected to coldatmosphere gas discharge from the mechanical refrigeration units 27 and27'. At the same time, if for cost and quality reasons it was decided touse cryogen cooling in combination with the mechanical refrigeration,the liquid cryogen is sprayed from the nozzles 45b, horizontally acrossthe food products on the conveyor 15. As stated above, the specificarrangement of the cryogen feedlines 45c forms no part of the presentinvention. Suitable controls may be provided to permit selection of anynumber of the cryogen spray headers located around the lowermost flightsof the conveyor 15 and within the first cooling zone.

One of the objectives in the first cooling zone is to freeze theexterior surface of the food products being processed to minimize themoisture loss and avoid any deterioration of the food products.Depending on the mass of the products, the temperature of the foodproducts and the speed of the belt 15a, more or less cryogen may berequired on the headers 45a. If the economics of the process require it,the conveyor 15 may be run at such a speed that the mechanicalrefrigeration units 27 and 27' freeze the exterior surface of the foodproducts so that no cryogen cooling is required.

However, as a consequence of the flow pattern of the cooling atmospheregas within the freezer 11, a rate of cooling in the first cooling zonewill be greater than the rate of cooling in the second cooling zone.Accordingly, it is contemplated that the process would be operated sothat the exterior surface freezing has been accomplished in the firstcooling zone regardless of the proportion of mechanical refrigerationcooling to cryogen cooling. When the food products exit the firstcooling zone through the opening 51, the flexible curtain 53 minimizesan outflow of cool air into the second cooling zone.

The second cooling zone is defined by the outer cylindrical wall 37 andthe imperforate wall 15j of the conveyor cage 15c. The products on theconveyor 15 enter the lower end of the second cooling zone, while theatmosphere gels enters the upper end of the second cooling zone, andprovides a type of counter flow where the food products move upwardly ona conveyor 15 and the cooling air moves downwardly through the flightsof the helical conveyor. Thus, the colder atmosphere gas engages thecolder products on the conveyor on the upper flights and, on the lowerflights, the warmer atmosphere gas engages the warmer or less-frozenproducts. This produces an efficient use of the cooling capacity of theatmosphere gas since all of the gas is circulated through all of thefood products with no gas being short-circuited, so to speak, as itreturns to the refrigeration means.

In order to permit the exit portion 15h of the conveyor 15 to extend outof the upper portion of the second cooling zone without allowing thecirculating atmosphere gas to bypass the down flow through the conveyor15, there is provided a sealed passageway 38 which extends through thecylindrical wall 37 surrounding part of the exit portion 15h, as bestshown in FIGS. 1 and 4. The passageway 38 closely encloses the exitportion 15h with sufficient clearance to allow the food products on theconveyor 15 to pass to the exit opening 19. Spaced curtains 38a allowthe food products to pass through the passageway 38 on the conveyor 15while restricting the movement of atmosphere gas through the passageway.

It should be understood that the specific details as to the relativesize of the first cooling zone as compared to the second cooling zonewill depend primarily on the types of food products to be frozen and theselected proportions of cryogenic cooling to mechanical refrigerationcooling that will be dictated by the economics of the process.Accordingly, the horizontal wall 33 that divides the enclosure 13 intoan upper low-pressure area and a bottom high-pressure area, as well asseparating the first and second cooling zones, might be located moretoward the center of the conveyor 15 or more towards the lower end ofthe conveyor 15. Regardless of the elevation of the horizontal wall 33,the principle of operation will be the same, including the use of firstand second cooling zones with the gas flow pattern as described in theschematic diagrams of FIGS. 2 and 3.

As indicated above, the manner in which the freezer 11 would be operatedinsofar as the proportion of mechanical refrigeration to cryogenicrefrigeration depends on the food products being frozen, their incomingtemperature, mass of the product, cost per pound, type of food and onthe rate at which the freezer is to be operated. While the fasterfreezing and lower product dehydration are well known advantages ofcryogenic freezing, the fact that cryogenic freezing is often more thanten times as costly as mechanical freezing is a significant deterrent tothe use of pure cryogenic freezing. In many applications in which theproduct being frozen is low in cost per pound, mechanical freezing ispreferred since the higher dehydration losses associated with mechanicalfreezers cannot even begin to equal the high cryogen costs required tominimize those losses.

On the other hand, when the product cost exceeds about $1.50 per pound,there will be many instances in which the savings resulting from lowereddehydration or weight loss in the product will more than pay for the useof some cryogenic freezing to prevent that weight loss. As to exactlywhat price per pound justifies going to cryogen freezing depends on theamount of heat that must be removed to create a crust or frozen surfaceon the product. For example, if the freezing process for a particularproduct requires 70 BTUs to establish a crust, the cost per pound ofproduct to justify cryogenic freezing would be about $1.25 per pound,while if the process requires 100 BTUs to establish crust, the cost perpound would be $1.75 per pound. On the basis of empirical data, it hasbeen established that cryogenic cooling will give a dehydration weightloss of about 1% as compared to 3.2% for mechanical refrigeration. Thisadded weight loss with mechanical refrigeration is a result of the factthat the circulating gas or the air cooled mechanically will be dry andinitially at a temperature of -40° F. or -50° F., while liquid CO₂ usedin cryogenic freezers will provide a low temperature of about -110° F.As a consequence, with the cryogenic freezer there is less time fordehydration to occur before the exterior of the product is frozen, andthe heat exchange medium has less tendency to dehydrate the food priorto this freezing of the exterior.

The present invention provides a unique combination freezer that isadapted for most efficient use of mechanically refrigerated atmospherewhen it is advantageous to freeze food products with pure mechanicalrefrigeration. At the same time, the freezer has the capacity to beoperated as a combination freezer using appropriate percentages ofcryogenic freezing to achieve the economic advantages of minimizingdehydration when justified by the product cost. Whether operated as amechanical freezer or as a combination freezer, the path of atmospheregas circulation through the freezer is such that the incoming foodproducts are cooled in the first cooling zone by the lowest temperatureatmosphere gas available in the system in order to minimize dehydrationof the products. Thereafter, in order to obtain the maximum coolingeffect from the atmosphere gas before circulating it back to therefrigeration apparatus, the atmosphere gas is circulated across thefood products in the direction opposite to the direction in which theproducts are moving. Thus in the second cooling zone, the coolingatmosphere gas is first circulated across the food products about toexit the freezer and then downwardly through the upwardly movingconveyor engaging the warmest food products just before beingrecirculated to the refrigeration apparatus. This pattern effectivelyprovides a relatively constant temperature differential between theatmosphere gas circulating in the second cooling zone and the foodproduct. There is another important advantage resulting from circulatingall of the atmosphere gas across all of the food products with nonebeing short-circuited back to the refrigeration means. The atmospheregas is dry and contains little moisture as it exits from therefrigeration means. As a consequence, it tends to absorb moisture fromthe food products, becoming saturated very early in its circulationthrough the enclosure. Once the atmosphere gas is saturated, it tends toabsorb little added moisture from the food which, of course, reducesdehydration during the later stages of the freezing, as in the secondcooling zone. On the other hand, if saturated atmosphere gas iscirculated back to the refrigeration means at several stages rather thanafter passing over all of the food products, more moisture is extractedfrom the food products. Thus the gas flow pattern of the presentinvention results in less dehydration of food products because theatmosphere gas is maintained at a moisture saturated level for a longerperiod of time.

There have been combination mechanical and cryogenic freezers whichinvolve separated cryogenic freezer portions and mechanical freezingportions. There is a problem in such systems with the unfrozen interiorof the food product tending to thaw the crust or frozen exterior surfaceas the food products move from the cryogenic portion to the mechanicalfreezer portion. In the present combination freezer, the two coolingzones are in the same enclosure and provide continuous cooling of thefood products so that no such surface thawing can occur. In addition,the close proximity of the two cooling zones permits the circulation ofthe same cooling medium through both cooling zones to accomplish thesurface and interior freezing of the products. In this connection, itshould be understood that when the freezer 11 is operated using bothmechanical and cryogenic cooling, the cryogen vapor will be carried intothe second cooling zone to combine with the atmosphere gas cooled by themechanical refrigeration to cool the food products. This furtherextraction of heat from the food products and warming of the cryogenvapor increases the efficiencies of the freezer and allows it to beoperated more economically.

Under normal operating conditions, the temperatures in both of thecooling zones will be on the order of -40° F. to -50° F. Although theliquid CO₂ itself will be on the order of -110° F., the freezing of thefood products cryogenically is primarily by surface contact rather thanby lowering the ambient temperature level in the first cooling zone. Thefreezer 11 would normally be operated with as little cryogen asnecessary to accomplish the objective of freezing the exterior surfaceof the food products. If too much cryogen is used in the first coolingzone, the carryover into the second cooling zone and on to therefrigeration apparatus tends to reduce the efficiency of the apparatus.If too much cryogen carries over into the mechanical refrigerationapparatus, the absence of a heat load on the heat exchanger coils 27bwill cause the mechanical refrigeration unit to shut down. Accordingly,while it is an advantage to have the first and second cooling zonesclosely coupled together, the cryogenic cooling for the freezer 11 mustbe limited so that it does not overwhelm the mechanical refrigerationapparatus, thereby eliminating the cost advantages inherent in thecombination freezer.

In order to increase the flexibility of the continuous freezer of thepresent invention, it is contemplated that further variations may beprovided in the arrangement of the cryogen cooling, while stillincorporating the atmosphere flow pattern, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and3. In FIG. 10 there is illustrated an alternative embodiment of theinvention in which cryogen injection headers 70 are mounted within thefreezer 11 immediately above the uppermost flight 15f of the conveyor15. The headers 70 include spaced nozzles 70a disposed across theconveyor to cryogenically cool the food products passing beneath thenozzles 70a. The headers 70 are arranged in a horizontal plane extendinggenerally radially of the axis of the cage 15c of the conveyor 15 withthree or four peripherally spaced headers preferably being provided.

The use of the overhead cryogenic cooling at the top of the secondcooling zone allows for the increased use of cryogenic cooling ascompared to mechanical cooling. There are applications in which thehigher costs of increasing the proportion of cryogenic to mechanicalcooling is justified based on product quality considerations or savingsbased on moisture loss in the product.

As shown in the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 11, themechanical refrigeration may be combined with the cryogenic cooling in ahybrid system in which the cryogenic cooling means is combined with themechanical refrigeration to provide a lower cost cooling in acombination freezer using mechanical and cryogenic cooling than would bepossible where the two cooling means are independent of each other. Thefreezer 111 is shown schematically in FIG. 11 as including mechanicalrefrigeration apparatus 127 and cryogenic cooling apparatus 145 disposedwithin an insulated enclosure 113 with the same air flow as disclosedabove in connection with the embodiment of FIGS. 1, 4 and 5.

The mechanical refrigeration apparatus 127 includes an evaporator orheat exchange coils 127a within the enclosure 113 and refrigeration skid127b, which includes a compressor and condenser. Refrigerant lines 127cand 127d extend between the skid 127b and the heat exchange coils 127a.

The cryogenic cooling apparatus 145 includes a tank 147 within whichliquid CO₂ is stored at 300 psi and 0° F. The liquid CO₂ is suppliedthrough a conduit 149 to a shell in tube heat exchanger 151 in which theliquid CO₂ is cooled by the refrigerant in the mechanical refrigerationline 127d which delivers refrigerant to the heat exchange coils 127awithin the enclosure 113. The heat exchanger 151 is designed to lowerthe temperature of the cryogen by 25° F. to 55° F., i.e., from 0° F. tobetween -25° F. and -55° F. Thus, the refrigerant temperature in theconduit 127d is on the order of -35° F. to -65° F. on entering the heatexchanger 151. The efficiency of the heat exchanger 151 is such that itmay lower the cryogen temperature to within ten degrees Fahrenheit ofthe mechanical refrigerant.

The liquid CO₂ from the heat exchanger 151 then passes through conduit153 to a cryogen control 155 which is adapted to meter the amount ofcryogen supplied through conduit 157 to the nozzles within the enclosure113. A conduit 159 extending from the tank 147 to the control 155provides CO₂ vapor at a pressure to operate instruments and to purgeliquid CO₂ from lines when necessary.

The above described embodiment, including the heat exchange between therefrigerants in the cryogenic and mechanical refrigeration systems,provides improved efficiency in the cooling accomplished by thecryogenic cooling as compared to the operation of the mechanicalcryogenic systems separately. By subcooling the cryogen from 0° F. tobetween -25° F. and -55° F., the cryogen is increased in its coolingeffectiveness by 10 to 15%. This increase in effectiveness of thecryogen permits reducing the amount of cryogen used by on the order of11%. Although the heat removed from the cryogen by the mechanicalrefrigerant will place an additional load on the mechanicalrefrigeration unit, it is well known that the BTUs removed by themechanical refrigeration are considerably cheaper than those removedthrough the use of cryogenic cooling. Accordingly, by lessening theamount of cryogen required to perform a given amount of food cooling, asavings is achieved if that can be accomplished through the use ofmechanical refrigeration.

While the disclosed embodiments of the invention include an ascendingspiral conveyor, it is contemplated that a descending spiral conveyorwould also be applicable to the present invention. The second coolingzone would then be located beneath the first freezing zone withoutdetracting from the benefits and advantages inherent in the disclosedinvention.

Although the invention has been described with regard to a preferredembodiment, it should be understood that various changes andmodifications as would be obvious to one having the ordinary skill inthis art may be made without departing from the scope of the inventionwhich is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A combination food freezer having mechanical andcryogenic cooling apparatus comprising:a source of cryogen; an insulatedenclosure including a conveyor for conveying food products through saidenclosure; refrigeration apparatus including a first heat exchangerreceiving mechanically cooled refrigerant, said refrigerant having acomposition different from said cryogen, and disposed within saidenclosure and gas circulation means to circulate an atmosphere gasthrough said first heat exchanger and across said food products to coolsaid food products; said refrigeration apparatus including mechanicalrefrigeration connected to said first heat exchanger to circulate amechanically-cooled refrigerant through said first heat exchanger, saidrefrigeration apparatus further including cryogenic cooling apparatuscoupled to said source of cryogen and having means within said enclosurefor spraying said cryogen across the food products on said conveyor; anda second heat exchanger connected between said mechanical refrigerationand said first heat exchanger, so as to receive said mechanically-cooledrefrigerant and said second heat exchanger coupled to said source ofcryogen to subcool said cryogen with the mechanically-cooled refrigerantprior to spraying said cryogen across said food products and prior tocirculating the mechanically-cooled refrigerant through said firstexchanger.
 2. A combination food freezer as recited in claim 1 whereinsaid cryogenic cooling apparatus includes a source of cryogen andconduit means connecting said source to said means for spraying cryogen,said second heat exchanger being a shell and tube heat exchanger havinga continuous tube disposed in a housing, said mechanical refrigerationbeing circulated through said continuous tube in said second heatexchanger and said conduit means connecting said cryogen from saidsource through said housing whereby said mechanical refrigerant furthercools said cryogen.
 3. A combination food freezer as recited in claim 1wherein said atmosphere gas within said enclosure is cooled by saidfirst heat exchanger and by said cryogenic cooling apparatus, andcontrol means to vary the proportion of mechanical refrigeration coolingto cryogenic cooling.